1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to ladder stabilizers and in particular to a stabilizing attachment to a ladder that can be locked into place when in use and retracted when not in use.
2. The Prior Art
Various forms of ladder stabilizers have long been known to the art of safety product design. U.S. Pat. No. 2,808,97, issued to Palmquist, shows a relatively flat ladder plate to which two inverted L-shaped bracket members are welded or otherwise secured. The bracket members extend upwardly on the rear of the plate, thence rearwardly therefrom at an obtuse angle. A pole plate is secured on the rearwardly extending portions of the bracket members by means of upwardly projecting, threaded studs.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,715,012, issued to Perry, discloses a ladder safety brace.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,274, issued to Tataseo, discloses a ladder stand-off device for supporting the upper end of a ladder in spaced relationship with a wall against which the ladder is leaned.
U.S. Pat. No. 662,566, issued to Jones, discloses portable staging attached to ladders. U.S. Pat. No. 1,015,123, issued to Bauer, discloses a ladder having two spaced supports.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,790, issued to Brewer et al., discloses a ladder stabilizer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,895, issued to Santos, discloses a ladder stabilizer comprising top extension arms and attached stabilizer bars.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,476, issued to Lee, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,390, issued Phillips, disclose tree stands.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,870,948, issued to Lundgren, discloses a ladder attachment used to secure the upper end of a ladder to any elongated object.
The R. D. Werner Co., Inc. Ladders Catalog of April 1993, p. 22, discloses an adjustable pole lash.
The disadvantages of the prior art include that there is no selectively deployable stabilizer for a ladder that can be both deployed and secured quickly. Nor is there any mechanism for holding the stabilizer in a secured position until it has been positively deployed, thereby preventing the user from mistakenly believing the stabilizer is deployed. Nor do any of the prior art devices disclose a means for adapting a stabilizer to surfaces of varying angles.